India in five

Quotes that provide a concise history of the country's cricket

Suresh Menon | July 13, 2017

1. "In my mind's eye I saw the news flashing over the air to far-flung places in India… to dusky men in the hills, to the bazaars of the East, to Gandhi himself and to Gunga Din" - Neville CardusCardus might not have got away with that in more politically correct times, but the sentiment is understandable. In their inaugural Test, in 1932 at Lord's, India began by dismissing the then world-record holders for the first wicket in first-class cricket, Herbert Sutcliffe and Percy Holmes, as well as Frank Woolley, in the first half-hour of play. England recovered from 19 for 3 to make 259; fast bowler Mohammad Nissar finished with 5 for 93. India's scores of 189 and 187 were not enough to upset England, for whom the captain, Douglas Jardine, made 79 and 85 not out. India's lone half-century was made by their other opening bowler, Amar Singh, whose unbeaten 51 in the second innings came at No. 9. It was of Singh's bowling that Walter Hammond was to say later that "he came off the pitch like the crack of doom". The captain, CK Nayudu, top-scored in the first innings with 40.

2. "It was Vinoo Mankad all the way"
- Vijay Hazare
The Indian captain's simple but eloquent tribute to his lead bowler placed India's first Test victory in perspective. It was their 25th Test, the opponents were England, and the venue Madras. The teams shared the five-match series 1-1, bringing respectability and an element of unpredictability to the Indian cause; the former was strengthened with the arrival of MAK Pataudi as captain in the 1960s, the latter was on display in 1958-59, when India had four captains in a five-Test series against West Indies. Mankad, later to stamp his name on a Lord's Test in the course of making India's highest individual score, and then going on to become the quickest to a "double" of 1000 runs and 100 wickets, ended the Madras Test with 12 for 108. England made just three fifties in the match. In England's second innings, " I discussed the necessity of bowling more spin," said Hazare, as Mankad tended to be restrictive rather than penetrative. It worked, and India won comfortably. Their batting heroes were the centurions Pankaj Roy and Polly Umrigar, who enabled them to declare at 457 for 9.

3. "It's all over. The match is yours. They'll want you up there on the balcony"
- Ken Barrington
Spoken to India captain Ajit Wadekarat The Oval in 1971, who at India's moment of victory - their first in England - had been fast asleep. "There could not have been a better bearer of good news," Wadekar said later, "It was as if England itself had paid us a tribute." India had emerged from being merely promising in the 1960s to world-beaters under Wadekar, who had already led the team to their first win in the West Indies earlier in the year. After two Tests in England were drawn, Bhagwath Chandrasekhar's 6 for 38 gave India a chance at winning after 40 years, and in their 22nd Test in England. "On a pitch which gave him little if any assistance Chandra had vindicated a vanishing breed of bowling in a fashion which can only be described as astonishing," wrote Playfair Cricket Monthly.

The hosts had been dismissed for 101, India were set 173 to win. Abid Ali's final square cut for four off Brian Luckhurst remains one of the iconic images of Indian cricket. India won by four wickets, and Wadekar himself top-scored with 45. England had been unbeaten in 26 Tests, held the Ashes, and with South Africa banned (owing to apartheid), India felt justified in assuming they were now the No.1 side in the world.

4. "Kapil's men turn world upside down"
- Headline in the Times, London
India were 66-1 outsiders, seen as the babes of one-day cricket, and had won just one match - against East Africa - in two previous World Cups. Inspired by their captain, Kapil Dev, they beat both Australia and England, while Kapil made 175 against Zimbabwe, the tournament's highest score. The odds had dropped to 50-1 for the final, against West Indies, winners of two previous tournaments, and comprising the finest players in the format. When India were dismissed for 183, it seemed all over. India, a team of lopsided allrounders (with the exception of Kapil, the others were bits-and-pieces players) then proceeded to dismiss West Indies for 140. The military medium of Mohinder Amarnath fetched three wickets; added to his 26 while batting, it earned him the Man-of-the-Match award.

It would be another 28 years before India won the World Cup again, the final made memorable by MS Dhoni's winning six. In between, they won the 2007 World T20, which led to the IPL, and a proliferation of games in the format. That too was under Dhoni, whose rise hastened the arrival of international players from the backwaters of the sport in India.

5. "I see myself when I see Sachin batting"
- Don Bradman
The Don's stamp of approval might have destroyed a lesser batsman; it served to inspire Sachin Tendulkar to greater heights. Over 15,000 Test runs, 100 international centuries and 18,000 runs in one-day cricket make him the player of the team that contained some of India's all-time greats: Dravid, Laxman, Kumble, Sehwag, Ganguly, Dhoni, Zaheer, Srinath, Harbhajan. He straddled a golden era of Indian cricket, when they won more matches than they lost (78 to 60 in Tests, 350 to 286 in one-dayers) and were No. 1 for a time in both Tests and one-dayers.

"I have seen God bat," wrote the Australian opener Matthew Hayden, "He bats No. 4 for India." No sportsman has been addressed as "God" so casually, and in the hearts of his fans, with such justification. Many of Tendulkar's records - he played his first Test at 16 and his 200th and last one at 40 - are likely to remain unbroken. His influence on India went beyond cricket, a fact acknowledged by the nation's highest civilian honour, the Bharat Ratna, being conferred on him. "If I had to describe him in five words," wrote Ricky Ponting, "I would say, competitive, passionate, driven, composed, complete." The story of Tendulkar continues to be written nearly four years after his retirement.

" If Ravi Shastri thinks that he did not get the job of the Indian Coach because of me, then he is living in a fool's world " - Saurav Ganguly responding to Shastri's claims that he wasn't present for his interview

"There won't be no tomorrow's for him if he is playing like this " - Sunny Gavaskar describing some poor batting by Mohd Azharuddin in a 1997 Sharjah clash against the West Indies

" He goes after that one and it's six, Just using the pace of the bowler" - Ravi Shastri describing Sachin's upper cut against Shoiab Akhtar in WC 2003.

" Bowlers like Irfan Pathan are found in every galli and nukkad of Pakistan " - Javed Miandad talking about the young U-19 Indian who went on to scalp their main batsman's Yousuf Youhana for 3 times in 3 matches in 2004.

POSTED BY B on | July 13, 2017, 12:38 GMT

It was indeed Madan Lal - Yashpal Sharma was chubbier and shorter. And then there were other quotes such as CB Fry of Vijay Merchant, "Let us paint him white and take him with us to Australia as an opener.", and Don Bradman in his autobiography, "Worst of all, we were denied the sight of Vijay Merchant, who must surely have claims to be the greatest of all Indian players." As for these quotes, I think we have to discount some recent ones when the cricketing world realized that if one did not sing praises of certain Indian cricketers, it would spell their own financial doom.

POSTED BY Jose on | July 13, 2017, 8:52 GMT

@Cricinfouser on | July 13, 2017, 1:49 GMT

I didn't read any of the posts in the first round, since I was stopped on the tracks by that 'moth -eaten" looking picture at the top, which made my mind take a flight back to my student days in the early 60's. Later, when I read your comment, I just couldn't resist posting my full agreement with every bit of it. Your comment has the stamp of a true cricket lover from 'those days' like Nampally,

As indicated by you, the sharp contrast of the dignity of the olden days, and the pomp, show & the sheer entertainment of modern cricket can never be exaggerated. But, one learns to accept the realities of the changing world, and enjoy the game, as it evolved. Wising all the best for a beautiful game which gave us, so much pleasure, I remain. Jose...P

POSTED BY Shankar on | July 13, 2017, 7:58 GMT

Umm. That isn't Madan Lal, but Yashpal Sharma.

POSTED BY Jose on | July 13, 2017, 7:53 GMT

Paused for several seconds, staring at the almost moth eaten picture of the "The 1932 Indian team at Victoria station in London."

I wish I had those outfits during my student days in the winter in Boston in the 60's. Memory of. December in Harvard Yard still gives me shivers, with the chill. The closet I could afford was something, I could buy from the "Salvation Army outlet", for a token price!

Of course, personal nostalgia shrinks into a minute atom, compared to the Cricket nostalgia which feels like the whole universe, scanning through the delightful five episodes.

Thank you, Menon. .Thank you, TCM. And this site.for bringing such delightful memories back into this almost 'ancient' head of mine.

POSTED BY Alex on | July 13, 2017, 5:19 GMT

India always had talent , but when ever india find a leader that unite the team , it wins. so secret is finding a leader. India is lucky it got 5 good leader in current team. Kohli , Rahane , Jadeja , Pujara and Ashwin. If india loses in world cup 2019 it is mainly due to openers not doing the job mainly. Then bowlers.

POSTED BY P on | July 13, 2017, 3:58 GMT

If the acme of cricketing watching is from the hospitality boxes of best stadiums of the world, a similar elation from the reader perspective is experienced on reading the contents of the Cricket Monthly. And to our great fortune, unlike the exorbitantly priced hospitality boxes, TCM is free !!! May it remain this way forever.

POSTED BY Vinod on | July 13, 2017, 1:49 GMT

Awesome photographs and quotes, though i donot agree with the whole GOD bit.....indian cricket is associated with a distinct and typical charm, a way of playing the game sans the ugly posturing, the cheap one upmah ship. A proud lineage from those of 1932 to the amarnaths, the pataudis, umrigar, wadekar, sardesai, sunny, vishy, chandra, pras, vengy, kapil, srinath, anil, vvs, sachin, rahul, msd etc and scores of others played the game with humility, dignity in defeat and restraint in victroy. I sincerely hope and pray the current lot live up to this perception and imagery instead of absorbing the cheap theatrics and boorish sendoffs from the attitude fuelled leages-unfortunately those images tend to hijack the common perception when the reality isquite different. For the people of a certain gen - that 1983 WC triump was a real david-goliath scenario-even today i pinch myself as how could that absolute bunch of no hopers shake the world? we never had a legacy of winning then.bravo...

POSTED BY s on | July 13, 2017, 1:46 GMT

Good posting.

Would rate 1983 WC win as the best win!
If I recall, before the final, India and WI played two times earlier in this WC.
India actually won the first match and WI - the second one (by a pretty large margin, if I remember).

This probably made WI somewhat complacent. And a score of 183 in 60 overs is totally gettable
for WI lineup comprising of Greenidge, Haynes, Richards, Lloyd and Dujon.

Freak dismissal of Greenidge, slow batting from Haynes , smart dismissals of Richards and Lloyd
paved the way for India win. Garfield Sobers - who was in the ground that day - seemed to have
remarked 'it was India's day', And indeed it was. WI never won the One day world cup since then.